Profile

Michelle L. McDonald

Michelle L. McDonald optimises the performance of people in small to medium size businesses, aligning their people development strategy with the organisational goals, to improve customer experience.

Her skills have been honed by extensive experience in Human Resource Development and Operational Management in various sectors in the the Caribbean, including Tourism, Government and Financial Services.

Michelle has held managerial and consultant roles. She was a key player in implementing the World Bank Group’s recommendations for the 2016 organisational restructuring of the Grenada Investment Development Corporation (GIDC) – Grenada’s economic development corporation.

Prior to that, in 2013 she completed eight (8) years at Spice Island Beach Resort, where she recruited, developed and continuously trained employees in service standards.  This family-run resort was awarded the coveted AAA Five Diamond rating in 2016, the first in Grenada and one of only seven in the Caribbean at that time.

Michelle also uses her extensive operational management experience to improve business processes, thus enabling greater efficiencies and enhancing the customer experience.  

She has worked full time as well as completed projects throughout the Caribbean in her native Jamaica, Trinidad, St Kitts & Nevis, Antigua and Grenada, where she is currently based. Equally comfortable in the classroom as in the workplace, Michelle has lectured at tertiary level in the United Kingdom, Jamaica as well as in Grenada. She has also taught Tourism to Primary School students in Grenada.

A CTO scholarship allowed Michelle to pursue a Master’s degree in Tourism & Hospitality Education at the University of Surrey (UK). She was awarded a distinction and subsequently, was published in an academic journal and a Tourism textbook. Earlier in her HR career, she completed studies in Advanced Human Resource Development at the University of the West Indies.  

Personal accolades include being invited to serve on the Caribbean Tourism Organisation’s (CTO) Human Resource Council, the Tourism & Hospitality Advisory Committee of the T. A. Marryshow Community College (TAMCC) and the Alumni Association of the UWI’s Centre for Hotel & Tourism Management. She won Jamaica Pegasus Hotel’s ‘Department of the Year’ award twice, first as Restaurant Manager, then as Human Resource Manager – a testament to her leadership skills.

Propelling organisations and people to optimise performance, Michelle will:

  • assess clients’ needs relative to their vision, strategic goals and service philosophy then conduct audits of operations, service and human resource systems to identify gaps;
  • deliver customised solutions to optimise performance at the organisational, departmental and individual levels; and
  • support business owners in recruitment, change management and performance improvement interventions.

By design, Michelle’s life has been multi-faceted. She combined her love of cricket with writing while profiling International cricketers for a leading website.  She is social media and tech savvy and has created Cricket Interviews and HRD Caribbean WordPress websites.

Applying innovative thinking in her work with clients, Michelle proposes and implements solutions which enable organisations to achieve strategic goals, enhance their customer experience and optimise employees’ performance.